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ARGUMENT 


TL>.  i 

v or|i 

II  I 1:  /.  I 


!■ 


CHARLES  F.  CHOATE,  ESQ., 


IN  BEHALF  OF  THE 


NORTHERN  (N.H.)  RAILROAD 


AGAINST  THE 


CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE 


Roston  & Lowell  and  Fitchburg  Railroads, 


BEFORE  THE  RAILWAY  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS 
LEGISLATURE, 


FEBRUARY  26,  1873. 


BOSTON  : 

GETCHELL  BROTHERS,  PRINTERS,  53  Washington  Street. 

1873. 


ARGUMENT 

OF 

CHARLES  F.  CHOATE,  ESQ., 

IN  BEHALF  OF  THE 

NORTHERN  (N.H.)  RAILROAD, 

AGAINST  THE 


CONSOLIDATION  OP  THE 


Boston  & Lowell  and  Fitchburg  Railroads, 


BEFORE  THE  RAILWAY  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS 
LEGISLATURE, 


FEBRUARY  26,  1873. 


REPORTED  BY  J.  M.  W.  YERRINTON. 


BOSTON : 

GETCHELL  BROTHERS,  PRINTERS,  53  Washington  Street. 

1873. 


//8/4S.  a 


ARGUMENT. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen. 

I appear  before  you  in  behalf  of  the  Northern  Railroad  of 
New  Hampshire,  in  opposition  to  so  much  of  this  petition  as 
relates  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Boston  & Lowell  Rail- 
road and  Fitchburg  Railroad.  With  the  general  question 
of  consolidation  I have  nothing  to  do.  As  to  the  disposi- 
tion to  be  made  of  the  Tunnel  I have  no  suggestion  to  make. 
These  are  domestic  questions,  to  interfere  in  which  would 
be  impertinence  on  my  part.  But  I do  not  know  that  any 
apology  or  excuse  is  necessary  in  coming  before  a committee 
of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  to  represent  a corporation 
without  the  limits  of  the  State.  If  any  one  will  glance  at  a 
railroad  map  of  Massachusetts,  it  will  be  evident  enough 
that  the  railroads  terminating  in  Boston  have  been  built  en- 
tirely independent  of  State  lines.  Look  in  every  direction, 
and  you  will  see  that  Boston  is  the  centre  of  a great  railroad 
system,  the  railroad  capital  of  New  England,  extending  its 
lines  in  every  direction  where  business  is  to  be  found  or  is 
to  be  created.  Very  soon  after  the  Boston  & Lowell  Railroad 
was  opened,  it  was  extended  up  into  New  Hampshire;  first 
by  the  Nashua  & Lowell  Railroad,  then  by  the  Concord,  then 
by  the  Northern,  and  then  by  the  Vermont  Central  and  the  Og- 
densburg  to  the  West,  The  Northern  Railroad  was  mainly 
built  and  is  how  owned  by  Massachusetts  capital.  Of  its 
directors,  four  are  citizens  of  Massachusetts.  At  least  three 


4 


quarters  of  its  capital  is  held  within  this  State,  and  we  can 
look  upon  it  in  no  other  way  than  as  one  of  the  Massachu- 
setts system  of  railroads  which  have  been  built  for  local 
business,  serving  local  business  to  a very  large  extent,  but 
at  the  same  time  tending  to  promote  the  growth  of  Boston 
as  much  a^any  railroad  in  the  Commonwealth. 

I think,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  there  is  no  part  of  New  Eng- 
land the  business  interests  of  which  are  so  intimately,  I 
might  say  so  entirely,  connected  with  the  city  of  Boston  as 
those  of  New  Hampshire,  and  perhaps  more  particularly 
those  of  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  river,  extending  from 
Concord  (for  these  lines  lie  in  that  valley)  to  Nashua.  New 
Hampshire  is  more  intimately  connected  with  the  business  of 
Massachusetts  than  many  parts  of  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts itself.  The  southern  part  of  the  State  finds  its  busi- 
ness connections  in  Providence,  the  western  part  in  New 
York,  to  a large  extent.  The  business  of  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire  is  peculiarly  with  Massachusetts  and  Bos- 
ton ; and  you  cannot  legislate  in  a way  to  affect  the  business 
interests  of  New  Hampshire  in  this  respect  without  at  the 
same  time  affecting  the  business  interests  of  Massachusetts 
and  of  Boston.  I cannot  express  it  to  the  committee  any 
more  clearly  than  was  done  by  the  counsel  for  the  Lowell 
road  when  he  came  before  a committee  of  the  Legislature  in 
1869  and  asked  for  terminal  facilities  for  this  great  Northern 
line.  In  1869  the  Lowell  Railroad  came  before  the  gentle- 
men who  then  occupied  your  places  as  members  of  the  com- 
mittee on  railroads  of  the  Legislature.  It  came  before  them, 
asking  for  terminal  facilities,  not  for  the  Lowell  Railroad, 
but  for  the  great  Northern  line  of  railroads  (including  those 
shown  on  this  map) , for  which  it  then  claimed  to  be  the 
natural  terminus.  I quote  from  the  argument  of  the  coun- 
sel, page  10  : 


5 


"In  other  words,  as  I stated  in  the  opening  argument, 
the  Boston  & Lowell  Railroad  does  not  stand  here  asking 
these  terminal  facilities  for  the  benefit  or  accommodation  of 
any  twenty-six  or  any  forty  miles  of  railroad.  But  it  stands 
here  as  the  representative  of  nine  hundred  miles  of  railroad, 
of  which  the  Boston  & Lowell  Railroad  is  the  terminus  ; and 
cars  from  the  Boston  & Lowell  depot  run  to  every  part  of 
this  nine  hundred  miles.  This  line  cost  fifty  millions,  and  a 
very  large  amount  came  directly  from  citizens  of  Boston.  I 
stand  here  representing  this  Northern  line  of  roads,  and  I 
ask  you  in  your  deliberations  to  consider,  in  making  any 
arrangement  with  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  how 
far  the  interest  of  this  line  of  roads  is  to  be  affected  by  the 
legislation  which  you  may  recommend.” 

I also  quote  from  this  same  argument,  to  show  the  connec- 
tion of  the  business  of  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  which  to 
a certain  extent  is  done  over  this  line  of  roads,  with  Massa- 
chusetts and  Boston.  On  page  8 of  this  argument  I find  the 
following  statement : — 

"Now  let  me  ask  your  attention  to  another  matter.  I 
speak  of  the  business  interests  of  Boston.  She  lies  within 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  ; but  so  far  as  business 
is  concerned,  so  far  as  the  metropolitan  character  of  Boston 
is  concerned,  Boston  is  to-day  no  more  the  capital  of  Massa- 
chusetts than  of  New  Hampshire.  I will  go  further,  and  say 
that,  taking  the  business  interests  of  New  Hampshire  as  a 
whole,  they  are  more  intimately  connected  to-day  with  Boston, 
than  the  business  interests  of  Massachusetts,  taken  as  a whole. 
Show  me  a man  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  who  does  busi- 
ness with  any  city  on  the  continent  who  does  not  do  business 
with  Boston,  andv  it  will  be  a rare  exception.  The  same 
thing  is  true  to  a marked  extent  of  Vermont  and  of  Maine. 
All  these  three  States  are  more  intimately  connected  with 


6 


the  business  interests  of  Boston — aye,  sir,  and  the  prosperity 
of  Boston  is  more  intimately  connected  with  their  prosperity 
— than  with  the  business  interests  of  the  western  part  of 
this  Commonwealth  itself. 

" And  therefore,  if  there  were  no  other  reason  for  my  friend 
(who  is  the  manager  of  a line  of  railroad  from  here  to  Og- 
densburg)  and  myself  coming  here,  it  would  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  business  interests  of  our  friends  and  fellow- 
citizens  throughout  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  are  as  truly 
identified  with  the  prosperity  of  the  city  of  Boston  as  are 
the  business  interests  of  any  people  forty  miles  distant  from 
the  city  and  who  do  business  here.” 

There  is  another  reason,  and  I think  a very  good  one,  why 
the  Northern  Railroad  may  come  here  and  fairly  represent 
the  Northern  line  ; and  that  is,  because  it  was  the  founder  and 
the  originator  of  the  Northern  line.  It  amuses  any  one  who 
is  familiar  with  the  early  history  of  this  line  to  hear  the 
laudations  of  counsel  upon  the  energy,  pluck  and  deter- 
mination of  the  Lowell  Railroad,  which,  they  say,  opened 
this  Northern  line  for  Boston.  It  did  no  such  thing.  Every 
obstacle  was  thrown  in  its  way  by  the  Boston  & Lowell  Rail- 
road. For  years  it  refused  to  co-operate  with  it.  I have 
here  the  early  contracts.  On  the  16th  day  of  March,  1854, 
the  Northern  Railroad  of  New  Hampshire  entered  into  a 
contract  with  the  Vermont  Central  Railroad  and  the  Ogdens- 
burg  Railroad,  — which  I propose  to  submit  to  the  committee 
if  they  desire  to  see  it,  — for  the  formation  of  this  Northern 
line.  This  contract  provided  for  running  through  lines  of 
passenger  and  freight  cars  between  Boston  and  Ogdensburg. 
It  was  secured  at  great  expense.  The  Northern  Railroad 
paid  a very  large  sum  in  order  to  consummate  it.  The  pro- 
visions of  the  contract  were,  that  cars  should  run  in  each 
direction  between  Boston  and  Ogdensburg,  for  the  estab- 


7 


lishment  of  a through  passenger  and  freight  line.  Having 
secured  this  contract,  the  Northern  Railroad  came  to  what 
we  call  the  lower  roads,  the  Concord,  the  Nashua  &,  Lowell, 
the  Boston  & Low^ell,  the  Manchester  & Lawrence,  and  the 
Boston  & Maine,  and  proposed  to  them  to  unite  in  the  cre- 
ation and  establishment  of  this  through  line.  The  Northern 
Railroad  proposed  that  they  should  bear  with  it  some  of  the 
burdens  of  the  contract  (that  they  should  contribute  $150,- 
000  towards  the  sum  which  the  Northern  Railroad  was  to 
pay  at  that  time  towards  the  equipment  of  the  Ogdensburg 
road),  and  should  be  entitled  to  share  in  its  benefits.  At 
that  time  some  of  (hem  refused.  The  business,  however, 
was  done  under  this  contract  until  1857.  In  1857  the 
Northern  Railroad"  succeeded  in  completing  the  arrange- 
ment with  the  Manchester  & Lawrence,  the  Boston  & Maine, 
the  Concord,  the  Nashua  & Lowell  Railroads,  to  come  into 
the  arrangement  and  form  part  of  the  through  line.  But 
in  this  contract  the  Boston  & Lowell  Ro&d  refused  to  take 
any  part.  It  did,  however,  allow  the  business  to  be  done 
on  substantially  the  same  terms  over  its  line.  From  that 
time  until  1865  the  business  continued  to  be  done  in  that' 
way.  The  Northern  line  business  was  considered  by  all 
the  roads  as  the  Northern  Railroad  business.  Settlements 
were  made  with  the  Northern  Railroad.  It  was,  to  a very 
considerable  extent,  the  representative  of  the  line,  and  fur- 
nished money  to  some  of  the  roads  ; time  and  again  the  up- 
per roads  were  materially  aided  by  the  money  advanced 
and  loaned  them  by  the  Northern  Railroad.  In  1865 
the  line  had  become  as  substantial  a success  as  a line 
can  be  where  the  parties  over  the  whole  line  will  not  come 
into  the  arrangement;  that  is,  I hold  it  to  be  absolutely 
essential  for  an  efficient  through  line  that  all  the  parties 
shall  be  interested  in  the  line.  While  the  Lowell  Railroad 


held  off  aud  refused  to  become  a party  to  these  contracts, 
and  refused  to  form  a portion  of  a through  line,  there  was 
some  difficulty.  It  was  difficult,  without  having  an  absolute 
terminus  in  the  city  of  Boston  upon  a railroad  which  was 
identified  in  interest  with  the  other  portions  of  the  line,  to 
establish  a line  thoroughly  efficient.  In  1865  the  first  con- 
tract was  made  for  a through  line  between  these  roads,  in 
which  the  Boston  & Lowell  joined.  Before  that  time  the 
business  had  all  been  done  in  the  name  of  the  Northern 
Railroad,  and  as  its  business.  This  contract  of  1865  was 
continued  for  five  years  by  yearly  extension,  and  was  sub- 
stantially in  the  form  of  the  contract  of  1870,  under  which 
the  line  is  now  operated. 

In  1870  the  present  "line  contract,”  as  it  is  called,  by 
which  the  Vermont  Central  line  was  formed,  was  made  be- 
tween all  these  corporations,  to  run  for  a period  of  twenty 
years,  entitled  "The  contract  for  the  business  of  the  Ver- 
mont Central  in  ^connection  with  the  Northern,  Concord, 
Nashua  & Lowell,  and  Boston  & Lowell  Railroads.”  To 
show  for  what  purpose  it  was  made,  I will  read  from  the 
preamble  : 

" That  whereas  the  respective  parties  own,  operate  or 
control  the  several  parts  of  a continuous  line  of  railroads 
extending  between  Boston  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
and  the  Province  line  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  with  sundry 
roads  and  branches  connecting  therewith  : and  whereas  it  is 
for  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned  that  so  much  of  the 
transportation  business  over  such  road  as  is  common  be- 
tween said  first  party  [the  Vermont  Central  Railroad]  and 
the  said  other  parties,  severally,  shall  be  managed  in  such 
manner  as  to  secure  efficiency,  economy  and  the  public  con- 
venience : 

" Now  therefore,  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  purposes, 


9 


and  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  between  themselves  re- 
lations which  shall  prevent  conflicts  of  interest  between  any 
of  these  respective  roads  and  branches,  it  has  been  and  is 
hereby  mutually  agreed  between  the  parties  as  follows.” 
Then  follow  the  provisions  under  which  this  line  is  to  be 
established.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  placed  under  the 
entire  charge  of  two  managers,  one  of  whom  shall  be  chair- 
man ; and  the  manager  of  the  Lowell  Railroad  has  always 
been  and  is  now  this  chairman.  The  provisions  of  the  con- 
tract are  intended  to  apply  to  through  business  ; and  for  the 
purposes  of  through  business  to  establish  one  consolidated 
line,  giving  the  entire  charge  of  that  through  business  to  a 
board  of  directors  consisting  of  six  representatives  of  the 
various  road  (only  one  of  whom  can  be  appointed  by  the 
Concord  Road) , of  whom  two  shall  be  elected  managers  and 
one  the  chairman.  It  contains  all  the  provisions  in  regard 
to  supplying  the  cars  by  the  different  roads.  It  contains  the 
provision,  which  I read  to  the  committee  the  other  day,  that 
every  corporation  that  enters  into  this  contract  will,  during 
its  term,  use  every  means  to  promote  the  efficiency  of  the 
line ; that  they  will  make  no  contract  to  divert  from  the  line 
the  business  for  which  it  was  established ; " that  they  will 
respectively,  so  far  as  they  properly  may,  in  all  respects 
manage  and  direct  said  business  on  their  several  roads  so  as 
to  secure  to  the  others  the  traffic  as  hereby  intended.” 

The  object  of  this  contract,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  obvious 
enough.  It  was  to  form  for  the  through  business  a consol- 
idated line,  leaving  all  the  local  roads  to  manage  their  local 
business  as  they  pleased.  For  instance,  while  this  contract 
is  made  for  the  transaction  of  the  through  business,  that  is, 
the  business  from  Ogdensburg  and  the  West  to  Boston  and 
intermediate  points,  each  railroad  company  made  contracts 
with  the  individual  members  of  the  line  for  the  transaction 


10 


of  its  local  business.  And  in  speaking  of  the  local  busi- 
ness, I don’t  know  that  the  committee  are  entirely  familiar 
with  the  way  in  which  railroads  manage  business  of  this 
kind.  For  instance,  all  business  which  originates  on  the 
Northern  Railroad,  between  different  points  on  the  Northern 
Railroad  and  Boston,  is  considered  the  local  business  of  the 
Northern  Railroad.  A passenger  from  Boston  to  any  point 
on  the  Northern  Railroad,  and  vice  versa , is  a Northern  Rail- 
road passenger,  and  is  carried  over  the  other  roads  in  cars 
supplied  by  the  Northern  Railroad  at  rates  fixed  and  agreed 
upon  by  the  parties.  Such  business  is  entirely  independent 
of  this  line  contract.  There  are  two  sets  of  contracts  be- 
tween these  parties  : one  in  which  they  all  join  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  an  efficient  line  for  the  transaction  of  through 
business,  and  another  consisting  of  separate  contracts  be- 
tween individual  members  of  the  line  by  which  they  pro- 
vide for  the  transaction  of  their  own  local  business.  This 
line  contract,  to  which  the  Concord  road  is  a party,  carried 
the  line  as  far  as  the  Ogdensburg  Railroad.  The  Ogdens- 
burg  Railroad  was  not  a party  to  this  contract ; Ibut  simul- 
taneously a lease  of  the  Ogdensburg  Road  was  taken  by  the 
Vermont  Central  trustees  for  the  line,  of  wffiich  I have  a 
copy,  which  I will  hand  to  the  committee ; that  is,  the  lease 
was  first  made  and  the  contract  formed  between  the  trustees 
and  managers  of  the  Vermont  Central  and  the  Vermont  & 
Canada  Railroad  and  the  Ogdensburg  Railroad  Company,  by 
which  it  was  agreed  they  should  operate  the  Ogdensburg 
Road.  A provision  was  then  made  that  the  other  roads  in 
the  line,  that  is,  the  Northern,  the  Concord,  the  Nashua  & 
Lowell,  and  the  Boston  & Lowell,  should  become  parties  so 
far  as  to  become  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  and  subject  to  all 
the  burdens  of  this  lease.  It  is  taken  for  the  joint  benefit 
of  the  line,  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  Vermont  Central 


11 


Railroad.  This  lease  has  been  approved  by  the  chancellor 
of  the  State  of  Vermont,  and  is  now  in  effective  operation. 

The  only  difficulty  that  has  arisen  with  the  Concord  Road 
occurred  at  this  time  when  it  was  asked  to  become  a party  to 
this  guarantee  of  the  lease.  It  declined  to  do  it;  and  inas- 
much as  it  did  so,  the  other  members  stepped  in,  and  a sup- 
plementary contract  was  made,  reciting  that  whereas  the 
Concord  Road  had  refused  to  join  in  this  lease,  the  other 
parties  would  take  it  for  the  whole  line,  with  a provision 
that  the  Concord  Road  might  comeflin  at  any  subsequent 
time. 

I am  unable  to  see  that  the  efficiency  of  the  line  is  in  the 
slightest  degree  affected  by  this  refusal  of  the  Concord  Rail- 
road, or  by  the  fact  that  the  Concord  Railroad  does  not  come 
in  and  take  a portion  of  the  Lake  Champlain  & Ogdensburg 
lease.  The  line  is  just  as  efficient  without  the  Concord 
Road  signing  that  instrument  as  it  would  be  with  it. 

The  next  year  after  this  contract  was  made,  a contract  was 
also  made  by  the  line,  that  is,  by  all  the  railroads  forming 
this  line,  with  the  exception  of  the  Concord  Railroad, — and 
let  me  say  that  in  the  preamble  to  this  last  contract  it  is 
provided  that  the  Concord  Railroad  Corporation  of  New 
Hampshire  shall  be  a party,  provided  it  execute  this  agree- 
ment,— for  the  lease  of  a line  of  boats  running  from  Ogdens- 
burg to  the  West.  It  was  substantially  done  in  this  way: 
the  capital  of  the  boat  company  was  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  it  had  a debt  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  Ogdensburg  Road  advanced  its  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  purchase  this  stock,  which 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Stark  and  Gov.  Smith  as 
trustees  for  the  management  of  the  boat  line.  A provision 
was  made  by  all  the  parties  for  payment  to  the  Ogdensburg 
Road  to  indemnify  them  for  and  to  pay  these  bonds.  A pro- 


12 


portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  business,  not  exceeding  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  year,  is  to  be  withheld 
by  the  Lowell  Road  from  the  proceeds  of  business  as  it 
comes  from  the  West,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  these 
bonds,  and  provide  a sinking  fund  for  the  payment  of  the 
bonds  of  the  steamboat  company.  This  line  of  steamers 
consists  of  twenty-one  vessels,  of  an  aggregate  valuation,  as 
stated  in  the  schedule  of  sale,  of  one  million  dollars,  suitable 
for  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  They  can  pass  through 
the  Welland  Canal,  and  reach  all  the  points  of  the  West 
accessible  by  water.  The  company  has  storehouses  at  Os- 
wego, Cleveland,  Toledo,  Detroit  and  Chicago.  And  this 
constitutes  the  Northern  line. 

Now,  what  is  this  Northern,  this  Vermont  Central  line? 
I again  read  to  you  from  the  argument  which  was  presented 
to  the  committee  of  the  Legislature  at  the  time  when  this 
Northern  line  through  the  Boston  & Lowell  Road  asked  for 
terminal  facilities  : 

" Let  me  ask  your  attention  to  another  thing : when  this 
line  of  four  hundred  and  six  miles  reaches  Ogdensburg, 
what  does  it  there  find  ? It  there  finds  a line  of  steam  pro- 
pellers which  run  through  Lake  Ontario  and  by  the  Welland 
Canal  into  Lake  Erie,  then  by  the  various  lakes  to  the  harbor 
of  Chicago,  thus  furnishing  a direct  connection,  a main 
line,  from  Boston  to  Chicago,  with  water  communication, 
excepting  four  hundred  and  six  miles  of  rail. 

” And,  Mr.  Chairman,  let  me  mention  another  thing  well 
known  to  a gentleman  of  this  committee,  who  in  my  judg- 
ment is  one  of  the  very  best  railroad  men  in  this  Common- 
wealth ; and  that  is,  that  by  an  arrangement  between  this  line 
of  railroad  to  Ogdensburg  and  the  boats,  freight  is  taken 
from  Boston  to  Chicago,  or  vice  versa , with  an  equal  divis- 
ion between  the  boats  and  the  railroad  line,  at  whatever 


13 


prices  the  freight  may  be  taken.  If  freight  is  taken  at  ten 
dollars  a ton  from  Boston  to  Chicago,  the  line  of  railroad  be- 
tween Boston  and  Ogdensburg  gets  five  dollars  of  the  ten, 
and  the  boats  get  the  other  five.  So  that  by  the  arrange- 
ment here  the  distance  to  Chicago  is  practically  twice  four 
hundred  and  six  miles,  or  eight  hundred  and  twelve  miles, 
by  this  route,  if  you  measure  distance  by  the  price  at  which 
freight  is  carried.  Let  me  repeat,  — because  I regard  it  as  a 
very  important  matter  bearing  upon  this  question,  which,  all 
things  considered,  is  the  most  practicable  and  cheapest  route 
to-day  from  Boston  to  Chicago  and  the  great  West,  — I claim, 
and  I think  I can  show  to  any  railroad  man,  that  this  route 
by  the  way  of  Ogdensburg  to  the  West  is  the  cheapest  route, 
is  peculiarly  the  Boston  route,  and  is  the  best  freight  route 
to-day  existing.  I said  that  the  railroad  received  just  half 
the  price  paid  for  the  transportation  of  freight  from  Boston 
to  Chicago,  and  the  boats  received  the  other  half ; therefore, 
practically,  it  brings  Chicago,  in  everything  except  the  mat- 
ter of  time,  within  eight  hundred  and  twelve  miles  of  Bos- 
ton. I want  to  have  you  tell  me  of  any  other  route  by 
which,  practically,  to-day  Chicago  is  brought  within  eight 
hundred  and  twelve  miles  of  Boston.” 

Then  follows  a list  of  the  equipments  of  this  Northern 
line.  It  gives  for  all  the  various  roilroads  of  the  line, 
which,  however,  includes  two  small  roads  not  in  the  direct 
line,  two  hundred  and  four  locomotives,  one  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  passenger  cars,  seven  hundred  and  sixty  baggage 
cars,  and  forty-two  hundred  and  three  freight  cars. 

This  line  is  as  efficient  to-day  as  in  1869.  It  is  more 
efficient.  In  1869  the  parties  were  merely  acting  under  a 
contract  from  year  to  year.  Now  they  are  acting  under  a 
contract  which  has  eighteen  or  twenty  years  to  run.  Now 
the  line  has  the  lease  of  the  Ogdensburg  Road.  Now  the  line 


14 


owns  the  boats.  To-day  the  manager  of  that  line,  at  times 
when  the  navigation  on  the  lakes  is  open,  seven  months  in 
the  year,  without  consulting  anybody,  can  name  the  price  of 
freight  between  Boston  and  Chicago ; and  whether  it  is  car- 
ried over  the  line  or  not,  the  price  named  by  the  manager  of 
this  line  fixes  the  rate  on  all  other  lines. 

There  is  no  other  way  in  which  you  can  control  Western 
rates. 

You  talk  about  the  Tunnel  line.  Until  you  get  the  Tunnel 
line  continued  through  to  Oswego,  you  are  not  in  a position  to 
occupy  the  same  place  which  this  line  now  has  in  the  rail- 
road policy  of  this  Commonwealth  and  of  New  England.  Your 
roads  are  at  the  mercy  of  outside  corporations.  The  Boston 
& Albany  Road  can  only  fix  its  rates  to  Chicago  by  consulta- 
tion with  railroad  men  in  New  York.  When  you  get  the 
Tunnel  line  completed,  the  operators  of  the  Tunnel  line, 
until  they  get  a port  on  the  lakes,  until  that  line  is  continued 
through  to  Oswego  or  Ogdensburg,  or  some  other  port, 
stand  in  the  same  position.  They  are  at  the  mercy  of  the 
parties  who  control  the  railroads  of  Central  New  York. 
They  will  be  placed  in  the  same  position  in  which  this  line 
has  been  placed  in  winter,  when  its  only  means  of  communi- 
cating with  the  West  were  over  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad. 
The  Grand  Trunk  Railroad  Company  was  told  by  Commo- 
dore Vanderbilt  that  if  it  connected  with  the  O^densburff 
line  at  these  low  rates,  he  should  not  connect  with  it  over 
the  New  York  Central ; and  the  business  over  the  New  York 
Central  was  too  important  for  it  to  give  up. 

I say,  therefore,  that  I agree  with  the  representation  made 
here  by  the  counsel  for  the  Boston  & Lowell  Road  in  1869, 
that  this,  Northern  line  is  just  what  Boston  wants.  It  is  a 
line  which  does  effectually,  during  the  time  when  navigation 


15 


is  open,  keep  up  that  competition  which  the  railroad  com- 
missioners told  you  was  the  great  thing  to  be  sought. 

You  want  to  get  a line  which  cannot  combine.  Now,  if 
experience  shows  anything,  it  is  clear  from  the  testimony  of 
Mr.  Mills  that  during  sixteen  years  in  which  he  has  been 
connected  with  this  line  it  has  combined  but^  once,  and  then 
only  for  a period  of  two  weeks.  During  all  the  rest  of  the 
time  it  has  been  in  competition  with  the  other  Western  lines, 
and  has  substantially  fixed  the  through  rates  between  Boston 
and  the  West. 

I do  not  understand  that  the  efficiency  of  this  line  is  in 
any  way  affected  by  the  financial  position  of  the  parties. 
The  Vermont  Central  Road  is  in  trouble;  but  it  does  not 
affect  the  running  of  cars,  and  business  comes  through  in 
precisely  the  same  way  as  before.  There  is  no  fear  that  the 
line  is  to  be  broken  up  because  the  parties  are  in  financial 
difficulty.  There  is  no  fear  that  the  line  is  to  be  broken  up 
because  the  Concord  Railroad  does  not  sign  these  contracts. 
There  is  no  fear  that  the  line  may  be  broken  up  because 
there  may  be  local  troubles  between  different  parts  of  the 
line.  For  all  the  purposes  of  through  transportation,  the 
Vermont  Central  line  stands  to-day  more  firmly  established 
than  ever;  and  I think  that  it  promises  in  the  future  to  be, 
what  it  has  been  in  the  past,  the  controller  of  through  rates 
between  Boston  and  the  West. 

But  it  is  not  merely  as  a Western  line,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
this  line  is  of  importance  to  Boston.  A mere  glance  at  the 
map  shows  that  the  Northern  line  is  a great  tributary  to  the 
business  of  Boston  and  to  the  business  of  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire.  It  runs  through  the  whole  length  of  those 
States.  It  is  evident  from  the  map,  and  has  appeared  here 
from  the  evidences  of  parties  in  interest,  that  it  is  to  a large 


16 


extent  in  competition  for  this  business  with  the  Fitchburg 
Railroad . 

The  Fitchburg  Railroad,  by  means  of  the  Cheshire  & 
Rutland,  can  connect  with  almost  every  point  in  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire.  The  railroads  ramify  in  such  way 
that  there  is  hardly  a point  in  Vermont  or  New  Hampshire 
that  cannot  be  reached  over  the  Fitchburg  Railroad.  Since 
the  opening  of  the  Nashua  & Acton  Road,  even  the  valley 
of  the  Merrimack  river  is  accessible  to  the  Fitchburg  Road. 

At  a time  when  you  are  proposing  to  consolidate  the  roads 
over  which  this  business  with  Boston  is  done,  other  States 
are  striving  to  extend  roads  into  this  very  country.  The 
Portland  & Ogdensburg  Railroad  traverses  the  whole  northern 
portion  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  The  Portland  & 
Rochester  Railroad,  with  projected  extensions,  covers  the 
whole  of  the  southern  portion  of  New  Hampshire. 

Now,  can  Boston  alford,  at  a time  when  other  cities  are 
competing  for  the  business  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire, 
to  put  any  check  upon  this  business,  or  to  do  anything  which 
shall  impair  in  the  slightest  degree  the  efficiency  of  the  rail- 
road system  which  connects  Boston  with  this  territory?  It 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  very  unwise. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  what  is  the  effect  of  the  proposed 
consolidation  on  these  various  classes  of  business?  And 
first,  I refer  to  the  Western  business,  or  business  done  with 
the  West  over  the  Vermont  Central  line.  And  I again  wish 
to  read  to  the  committee  from  Article  14  of  the  contract 
under  which  this  line  is  formed  : 

"It  is  the  intention  of  the  parties  to  this  agreement  to 
secure  to  the  connecting  and  continuous  line  of  railroad 
above  mentioned  all  the  business  requiring  transportation 
between  points  thereon,  or  which  may  be  conveniently 
reached  thereby.  And  the  parties  hereto  mutually  agree 


17 


that  they  will  not  do  to,  nor  so  far  as  they  can  control  the 
same  with  a just  regard  to  the  public  convenience,  suffer  to 
be  done,  any  act' or  thing  which  shall  in  any  way  contravene 
the  letter  or  spirit  of  this  agreement;  and  that  they  will, 
respectively,  so  far  as  they  properly  may,  in  all  respects 
manage  and  direct  said  business  on  their  several  roads  so  as 
to  secure  to  the  others  the  traffic  as  hereby  recommended.” 

Now,  are  you  ready  to  place  the  Tunnel  — or  the  Fitchburg 
Railroad,  which  everybody  says  is  the  key  to  the  Tunnel  — in 
the  hands  of  a corporation  which  has  obliged  itself  for 
twenty  years  to  come  to  do  everything  to  promote  the 
efficiency  of  another  line  westward,  with  which  the  Tun- 
nel, when  it  is  completed,  will  be  in  direct  competition? 

The  only  reply  made  to  this  is,  that  perhaps  this  contract 
is  not  legal  and  may  be  broken.  I don’t  care  which  horn  of 
the  dilemma  you  take.  The  integrity  of  the  Northern  line 
depends  upon  that  contract.  If  the  Lowell  Railroad  keeps 
the  contract,  you  place  the  Tunnel  in  the  hands  of  a rival 
line.  If  it  breaks  the  contract,  you  break  up  the  existing 
Northern  and  Western  line,  which,  from  all  the  testimony  in 
this  case,  has  been  and  is  likely  to  be  of  immense  advantage 
to  the  business  of  New  England  and  Boston. 

The  advantage  of  this  Northern  line  is  not  confined  to  the 
city  of  Boston.  It  extends  over  the  whole  line  of  road. 
Every  town  and  every  city  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack 
river  derives  an  equal  advantage  with  Boston  from  this 
Northern  line.  It  brings  cheap  flour  and  grain  to  Concord, 
Manchester,  Lawrence,  Nashua  and  Lowell.  It  enables  the 
manufacturers  of  those  cities,  who  are,  to  a very  great  de- 
gree, Boston  and  Massachusetts  manufacturers,  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  other  parts  of  the  country.  By  the 
outlet  over  the  Nashua  & Worcester  Road,  it  brings  Wor- 
cester and  a great  part  of  Massachusetts  within  the  circle  of 


18 


the  competition  which  is  kept  up,  and  is  equally  advantage- 
ous to  that  part  of  the  State. 

Now,  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  consolidation  on  the  local 
interests  of  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont.  I suppose  there 
is  no  doubt  that  putting  the  Fitchburg  and  Lowell  Railroads 
together  creates  a monopoly  to  which  the  whole  business  of 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  must  be  tributary.  If  you 
will  look  at  the  map,  you  will  find  that  every  railroad  run- 
ning towards  Boston,  between  the  Boston  & Maine  on  the 
east,  and  the  Boston  & Albany  on  the  west,  must  enter  the 
city  of  Boston  to-day  over  one  of  these  railroads,  and  every 
railroad  corporation,  and  the  whole  territory  traversed  by 
every  railroad  in  that  whole  circuit,  is  made  tributary  to  this 
monopoly. 

Now,  in  some  respects,  I agree  with  Mr.  Derby’s  eulogies 
of  monopolies.  When  you  state  it  as  a railroad  aphorism, 
that  one  railroad  corporation  can  do  business  cheaper  than 
two,  I agree  with  it,  Mr.  Chairman  ; I have  no  doubt  that  it 
can.  I have  no  doubt  that  between  two  points,  if  there  is 
only  one  railroad,  that  that  one  railroad  can  do  the  business 
cheaper  than  two.  But  I think  it  is  equally  clear  that  it  will 
not  do  it.  Place  the  power  in  the  hands  of  a railroad  man- 
ager, and  his  business  is  to  get  all  the  money  out  of  the 
traffic  that  it  can  bear.  And  substantially,  the  only  way  by 
which,  to-day,  you  do  control  railroad  rates  is  by  competi- 
tion. I don’t  know  that  there  is  any  better  way  than  to 
refer  to  an  example  of  railroad  monopoly  and  its  results. 
And  I think,  without  wishing  to  say  one  word  against  the 
managers  of  the  Boston  & Lowell  Railroad,  and  admitting 
that  their  management  has  been  able,  efficient  and  success- 
ful for  the  stockholders  of  the  road,  the  Boston,  Lowell 

Nashua  Railroad  furnishes  a fair  example  of  such  a mo- 
nopoly. It  has  been  throughout,  and  is  shown  throughout  in 


19 


the  legislation  of  this  State,  and  in  attempted  legislation  in 
New  Hampshire,  an  attempt  at  fiionopoly.  If  you  look  at 
Lowell,  every  railroad  which  has  its  terminus  in  Lowell  has 
passed  under  the  control  of  that  corporation,  including 
railroads  which  have  no  connection  with  it  or  with  one 
another.  So  it  is  with  the  city  of  Nashua.  The  business  of 
Nashua,  being  chiefly  business  between  Boston  and  Nashua, 
has  been  enjoyed  as  a monopoly  by  the  Boston  & Lowell  and 
Nashua  Railroads. 

And  now  what  is  the  result,  Mr.  Chairman?  Anybody 
that  has  been  at  the  State  House  within  the  last  two  years 
knows  with  what  zeal  and  determination  the  people  of 
Nashua  have  pushed  to  completion  the  Nashua  & Acton 
Road  to  get  a new  avenue  from  Nashua.  And  I believe  it 
is  a fact  that  the  only  railroad  corporation  which  has  been 
formed  in  this  Commonwealth  under  the  general  railroad 
law  is  a railroad  company  formed  by  the  people  of  Lowell 
to  get  an  independent  connection  with  the  outer  world  over 
the  Boston  & Maine  Railroad.  Now  I respectfully  submit 
that,  however  successful  for  stockholders  the  principle  of 
monopoly  may  seem  to  be,  it  is  not  one  that  is  satisfactory  to 
the  people. 

But  it  may  be  said,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  if  you  do  not 
grant  this  act  authorizing  a consolidation  of  the  Fitchburg 
and  Lowell  Roads,  that  they  may  combine  by  contract.  In 
the  first  place  I reply,  that  they  have  no  legal  power  to  make 
a contract  to  combine ; and  in  the  second  place,  I will  run 
the  risk  of  saying  that  they  never  can  make  a contract  to 
combine.  They  can  do  what  they  have  attempted  to  do 
here,  and  say,  "We  will  put  the  roads  together  for  a new 
company ; we  will  put  in  the  property  at  an  appraised  valu- 
ation.” But  let  them  attempt  to  form  a business  contract 
by  which  the  business  is  to  be  divided,  and  they  cannot  do 


20 


it.  The  competition  between  the  Fitchburg  and  the  Lowell 
Roads  is  not  sufficiently  vital  to  produce  combination.  When 
competition  is  carried  to  such  an  extent  as  to  threaten  divi- 
dends, I suppose  that  it  will  overcome  any  hostility  between 
two  corporations.  But  where  the  competition  is  merely  inci- 
dental, i.e .,  not  interfering  with  the  general  business  of  the 
roads,  it  will  never  produce  combination.  The  Fitchburg 
and  the  Lowell  Roads  have  each  an  independent  business. 
They  each  have  enough  to  do,  and  competition  between  them 
is  at  points  which  do  not  vitally  affect  either  of  them. 

I do  not  know,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  I am  required  to  say 
anything  here  for  the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  I suppose 
New  Hampshire  can  survive  all  attacks  which  can  be  made 
upon  her.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  some  respects  these  at- 
tacks are  unjust.  And  in  regard  to  the  particular  legislation 
spoken  of  here  as  asked  for  and  refused,  I think  it  proper 
that  I should  lay  before  the  committee  the  precise  facts,  be- 
cause I do  not  think  that  they  have  been  fairly  stated  to  the 
committee : what  has  been  asked  for,  what  New  Hampshire 
has  done,  and  what  she  refused  to  do.  Now,  if  you  will  re- 
fer to  this  charter  of  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company 
passed  in  this  State  (and  let  me  remark  that  it  is  the  most 
remarkable  railroad  charter  found  on  the  pages  of  the  legis- 
lation of  this  State  or  any  other) , there  are  certain  points  to 
which  I wish  to  call  your  attention.  The  first  is  this  : there 
are  four  corporations  named,  the  Boston  & Lowell,  the 
Nashua  & Lowell,  the  Concord,  and  the  Northern  Railroads. 
Now,  any  two  of  these  may  combine  and  form  the  corpora- 
tion. But  it  is  evident  enough  that  as  every  one  of  these 
corporations  is  partly  a New  Hampshire  company,  except 
the  Boston  & Lowell,  that  some  legislation  in  New  Hamp- 
shire was  necessary  in  order  to  make  this  charter  in  any  way 
effective ; that  is,  the  Concord,  the  Nashua  & Lowell,  and 


21 


the  Northern  were  all  New  Hampshire  companies ; and  to 
enable  them  to  join  in  the  formation  of  this  Great  Northern 
company,  they  must  get  authority  from  the  State  which 
created  them,  namety,  from  the  State  of  New  Hampshire. 
Therefore  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  charter  could  never 
in  any  way  become  operative  until  New  Hampshire  had 
sanctioned  it.  This  corporation  has  authority  to  issue  capi- 
tal stock  amounting  to  some  sixty  millions  of  dollars.  In 
1871  the  Legislature  of  this  State  passed  an  act  intended  to 
limit  the  powers  of  those  railroad  companies  which  extend 
beyond  the  line  of  the  State.  The  Boston  & Maine,  the 
Nashua  & Lowell,  the  Vermont  & Massachusetts,  the  Boston 
& Albany,  the  Providence  & Worcester,  the  Worcester  & 
Norwich,  the  Springfield,  Hartford  & New  Haven,  the  Old 
Colony,  are  all  the  great  corporations  of  the  State,  and  are 
all  corporations  which  extend  beyond  the  State  line.  There 
is  an  act  on  the  statute  book  which  prohibits  any  of  these 
corporations  building  a side  track  outside  of  this  Common- 
wealth, without  coming  here  and  asking  your  leave;  i.e., 
anything  which  requires  legislative  sanction  in  another  State, 
requires  them  to  come  here  and  ask  your  consent.  In  the 
light  of  this  statute  it  seems  extraordinary  that  you  should 
allow  to  remain  on  the  statute  book  a charter  which  gives  a 
railroad  corporation  the  general  roving  right  to  buy  railroads 
over  the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
those  purchased  roads  should  be  continuous  or  form  a con- 
tinuous line.  It  can  buy  them  pretty  much  anywhere  that  it 
wants  them,  and  at  the  prices  it  chooses  to  pay  for  them. 
You  prohibit  companies  in  this  State  from  making  stock 
dividends.  But  this  company  can  increase  its  stock  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  stock  of  the  purchased  roads,  about  which 
you  know  nothing.  The  only  provision  in  the  charter  is, 
that  there  shall  be  a commissioner  appointed  by  the  Gov- 


22 


ernors  and  paid  by  the  company,  who  shall  assent  to  the 
issue  of  this  stock.  I don’t  know  that  it  can  be  regarded  as. 
wonderful  that  when  parties  came  up  into  New  Hampshire 
with  an  act  of  incorporation  which  authorized  them  to  buy 
up  all  the  railroads  in  New  Hampshire  and  put  them  into  one 
corporation,  that  the  Legislature  should  be  a little  shy  of  it. 
Take  a parallel  case,  and  see  how  it  would  strike  you.  The 
Manchester  & Lawrence  Railroad  has  twenty  miles  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  the  Boston  & Maine  has  twenty-six  miles 
in  Massachusetts.  It  is  about  the  same  thing  as  if  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire  had  passed  an  act  by  which  it  authorized  the 
Manchester  & Lawrence  Railroad  and  the  Boston  & Maine 
Railroad  to  form  a corporation  under  the  name  of  the  Great 
Southern  Railroad  Company,  with  a capital  of  sixty  millions, 
and  with  power  to  go  over  the  State  of  Massachusetts  and 
buy  up  all  the  railroads  it  pleased. 

Then  there  is  another  point  where  it  touched  a matter 
in  which  the  people  of  New  Hampshire  were  then  particu- 
larly sensitive.  This  question  of  consolidating  competing 
roads  was  not  a new  one  in  New  Hampshire.  It  was  a thing 
they  had  considered.  They  made  up  their  minds  that  it  was 
not  wise  to  consolidate  competing  roads, — that  where  com- 
petition existed  it  was  best  to  keep  it  up  ; and  they  had 
passed  a stringent  act  in  New  Hampshire,  — where  they 
had  always  refused  to  consolidate  competing  roads,  — pro- 
viding that  no  rival  or  competing  roads  should  be  maintained 
by  the  same  corporation,  under  heavy  penalties*.  This  Great 
Northern  Railroad  bill  gave  authority  to  unite  two  compet- 
ing corporations  in  New  Hampshire.  It  excited  the  public 
feeling  because  the  corporations  had  attempted  to  unite 
against  the  laws.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  should 
create  some  little  excitement  in  New  Hampshire  at  that 
time?  I suppose  there  is  no  railroad  question  over  which 


23 


the  people  of  New  Hampshire  have  been  more  sensitive  than 
this  : that  the  control  of  the  railroads  leading  into  the  val- 
ley of  the  Merrimack  should  not  pass  into  the  hands  of  one 
corporation.  There  is  no  richer  piece  of  railroad  property 
in  the  United  States  than  the  Concord  Railroad.  I think  its 
gross  earnings  are  something  like  70  per  cent  on  its  capital. 
From  the  peculiar  formation  of  the  country,  the  railroads 
pour  into  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack  at  Concord  the  whole 
business  of  the  Northern  and  Western  parts  of  the  State. 
From  Concord  it  runs  down  a perfectly  level  road  to  Nashua. 
The  Concord  Railroad  at  one  time  had  control  of  the  whole 
business  of  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack.  However,  in  order 
to  create  competition,  and  after  severe  conflicts,  the  Manches- 
ter & Lawrence  Railroad  was  built  from  Manchester  to  Law-  - 
rence,  there  connecting  with  the  Boston  & Maine.  Then  a 
railroad  was  built  from  Concord  to  Portsmouth,  furnishing  a 
new  outlet  to  the  seashore,  over  which  the  coal  for  the  Mer- 
rimack valley  is  taken.  The  Portsmouth  & Concord  Road  is 
owned  by  the  Concord  Road,  and  is  a part  of  its  line.  An 
effort  had  been  recently  made  by  the  Concord  Road  to  secure 
the  control  of  the  Manchester  & Lawrence  Road.  I think 
there  have  been  a dozen  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  two 
corporations  to  secure  from  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire 
authority  to  unite.  It  was  always  fiercely  contested,  and  al- 
ways refused  by  decisive  votes.  In  1860,  after  they  had 
been  foiled  in  this  way  a good  many  times,  they  made  a 
contract  to  unite  ; and  the  Manchester  & Lawrence  and  the 
Concord  Roads  agreed  substantially  to  form  a new  corpora- 
tion, to  put  their  roads  together  and  pay  the  same  dividends 
on  their  stock  as  it  then  stood ; that  they  would  own  their 
shops  together  and  all  rolling  stock  together  and  all  personal 
property  together.  And  under  the  terms  of  this  contract  the 


24 


Manchester  & Lawrence  Road  was  operated  until  1865.  In 
1865  the  natural  effect  of  such  a monopoly  followed. 

The  Concord  Railroad  (there  being  but  one  line  of  road 
from  Concord  down  to  Manchester,  from  which  point  the 
Manchester  & Lawrence  branches,  running  off  to  the  Boston 
& Maine,  and  the  Concord  continuing  down  to  Nashua) 
believed  it  had  absolute  control  of  all  the  Northern 
business  of  New  Hampshire  and  could  turn  it  whichever 
way  it  pleased.  It  made  a contract  with  the  Lowell  Railroad, 
by  which  it  agreed  to  compel,  and  for  a series  of  years  did 
compel,  the  business  of  the  North  to  come  down  over  the 
Concord  & Lowell  Railroads.  The  Manchester  & Lawrence 
was  a closed  road  in  effect.  There  was  some  trouble  at  first. 
Trains  came  from  the  North  with  orders  to  go  down  over 
the  Manchester  & Lawrence  Road.  The  engineers  appointed 
by  the  Concord  Railroad  endeavored  to  haul  them  over  the 
Concord  Railroad.  The  brakemen  appointed  by  the  North- 
ern roads  blocked  the  wheels,  and  for  a time  there  was  a 
complete  block.  But  the  business  was  substantially  turned 
over  the  Concord  Road  under  the  provisions  of  this  con- 
tract. The  terms  of  this  contract  have  always  been  a dis- 
turbing element,  and  perhaps  the  first  one  in  this  Northern 
line.  They  contained  the  condition  that  if  the  Concord 
Railroad  turned  all  the  Northern  business  over  the  Lowell 

Road,  its  own  business  should  be  done  at  two  thirds  the  re"*- 

© 

ular  price.  And  the  spectacle  is  witnessed  to-day  of  trains 
brought  over  the  Lowell  Railroad  made  up  of  cars  from  the 
Concord,  the  Northern,  and  Concord  & Montreal  Railroads, 
when  the  two  last-named  corporations  are  required  to  pay 
50  per  cent  more  than  is  paid  by  the  Concord  Railroad  for 
the  same  business.  The  substantial  effect  was  to  divert  all 
business  from  the  Manchester  & Lawrence  Railroad,  which 
became  in  effect  a closed  road. 


25 


Now  in  1867,  to  meet  this  state  of  things,  the  people  of 
New  Hampshire  had  passed  this  law  in  regard  to  such  rival 
and  competing  roads  as  these  were,  combining  by  contract ; 
and  making  very  stringent  provisions  to  prevent  such  com- 
bination. Immediately  after  1867,  suits  were  instituted 
which  have  just  been  terminated ; and  the  court  has  since 
decided  that  two  railroads  have  not  the  power  to  consolidate, 
and  that  the  law  of  the  State  preventing  such  consolidation 
is  a constitutional  act.  It  was  when  the  feeling  of  New 
Hampshire  was  excited  by  this  contest  then  going  on,  that 
this  Great  Northern  Railroad  bill  was  brought  there,  which 
granted  to  the  corporators  the  power  to  do  the  precise  thing 
which  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire  had  passed  an  act 
to  prevent  their  doing,  and  which  they  were  then  litigating 
in  the  courts. 

Mr.  Hoak.  — Is  that  precisely  correct?  I think  the  only 
application  was  that  to  authorize  the  Boston  & Lowell  and 
the  Lowell  & Nashua  Roads  to  unite. 

Mr.  Choate.  — I am  coming  to  that;  I have  got  the  bill 
here. 

I say  that  when  this  application  was  made  to  the  Legislature 
of  New  Hampshire,  that  was  the  state  of  public  feeling  and 
that  was  the  condition  of  things.  Nobody  can  be  surprised 
that  when  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  charter  was  presented 
to  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature  in  disguise,  they  were  in- 
clined to  kick  it  out. 

Now  I state  here  with  the  utmost  confidence  that  this  pro- 
position to  form  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company  was 
never  presented  to  either  of  the  New  Hampshire  corporators 
in  that  corporation.  Neither  the  Northern  Railroad  nor 
the  Concord  Railroad  were  ever  asked  to  join  it.  They 
were  never  asked  to  form  that  corporation.  They  were 
never  asked  to  unite  in  procuring  an  act  in  the  State  of  New 


26 


Hampshire  to  form  a consolidated  through  line.  I do  not 
think  that  it  was  ever  intended  that  they  should  be  asked. 
I have  the  act  which  was  presented  in  New  Hampshire,  cer- 
tified by  the  clerk.  It  is  this  : — 

" An  act  relating  to  the  Nashua  & Lowell  and  the  Wilton 
Railroad  Corporations. 

" The  Nashua  & Lowell  Railroad  Company  and  the  Wilton 
Railroad  Company  or  either  of  them  are  authorized  to 
unite  with  the  Boston  & Lowell  Railroad  Company  under 
the  provisions  of  an  act  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  approved  June  23d  1869,  entitled  ' An  act  to 
incorporate  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  Company.’” 

Now  what  is  the  effect  of  that  act  ? If  they  granted  this 
act,  does  it  not  give  the  corporation  formed  there,  i.e.,  the 
corporation  composed  of  the  Boston  & Lowell,  the  Nashua 
& Lowell  and  the  Wilton  Branch  Railroads,  all  the  powers  of 
Great  Northern  Railroad  Company?  At  any  rate,  that  is 
what  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature  were  afraid  of.  I think 
the  fear  is  very  natural.  It  is  what  the  other  railroads  were 
afraid  of.  It  seemed  a little  singular  that  after  the  act  was 
passed  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  authorizing  the  four 
corporations  composing  this  through  line  to  unite  and  form 
the  corporation,  a bill  should  be  presented  in  New  Hamp- 
shire (and  the  authority  of  New  Hampshire  was  essential  in 
order  to  give  it  any  vitality) , limiting  this  power  to  two  com- 
panies which  were  then  substantially  combined  by  a contract, 
and  to  a branch  which  was  then  under  their  control.  That 
was  the  feeling  in  New  Hampshire.  I have  no  doubt  that  it 
was  the  feeling  of  the  railroads  in  New  Hampshire.  I have 
no  doubt  they  did  all  they  could  to  defeat  consolidation,  not 
as  consolidation,  but  to  defeat  this  particular  consolidation 
which  was  there  asked  for.  I think  they  were  right  in  doing 
it.  I think  that  " the  demagogues  of  New  Hampshire  ” have 


27 


done  a wise  thing,  which  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts 
might  imitate  by  defeating  the  whole  thing.  It  deserves 
serious  consideration  whether  anything  further  should  be 
allowed  to  be  done  under  this  charter. 

Mr.  George.  — I understand  you  to  say  that  the  Northern 
Railroad  which  you  represent  did  endeavor  to  defeat  this 
bill  and  have  that  action  taken. 

Mr.  Choate. — I don’t  know  what  action  they  took  in 
the  matter. 

Mr.  Hoar.  — I understood  you  to  say  that  just  now.  I 
suppose  you  speak  authoritatively  for  the  Northern  Railroad  ; 
and  I wish  you  to  say  whether  the  Northern  Railroad  was 
opposed  to  this  consolidation. 

Mr.  Choate.  — I am  unable  to  answer  that  question.  The 
Northern  Railroad  was  never  consulted  on  that  matter  by  the 
Lowell  Road. 

Mr.  Hoar.  — What  roads  did  you  refer  to?  I understood 
you  to  say  that  opposition  to  it  was  universal  all  over  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  George.  — Does  not  that  include  the  Northern  Rail- 
road, which  you  represent? 

Mr.  Choate.  — I did  not  represent  the  Northern  Railroad 
at  that  time.  I thiuk  I can  say  that  all  New  Hampshire  was 
opposed  to  that  project  in  the  form  in  which  it  came  up. 
To  a certain  extent  they  did  kick  it  out  of  the  Legislature. 
Under  the  rules  of  the  New  Hampshire  House,  a bill  cannot 
go  to  a committee  until  it  is  read  a second  time ; and  they 
refused  it  a second  reading  by  a very  decided  vote. 

Now  I say  that  the  question  of  the  direct  consolidation  of 
a through  line  has  never  been  presented  in  New  Hampshire. 
I also  want  to  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  another 
matter,  which  came  up  at  this  very  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, which  did  ignominiously  kick  out  that  bill.  This 


28 


question  of  through-line  contracts  came  before  that  very 
Legislature.  Somebody  thought  that  in  this,  method  of 
making  through  contracts  and  consolidating  a line  by  con- 
tracts there  was  something  wrong ; and  they  introduced  an 
order  relating  to  the  management  of  the  line,  and  of  con- 
tracts made  with  the  line,  and  other  matters  which  are  to  a 
certain  extent  irrelevant,  but  directing  the  committee  to  in- 
quire " whether  said  Stark  as  manager  for  and  in  behalf  of 
the  Nashua  & Lowell  Road  has  not  guaranteed  said  Vermont 
Central  against  loss  by  reason  of  the  making  of  said  lease 
with  said  Ogdensburg  & Lake  Champlain  Road,  contrary  to 
law,  and  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  public ; and  to  report 
what  legislation  is  necessary  to  protect  the  public  and  stock- 
holders against  such  useless  expenditure  and  unauthorized 
contracts.” 

Mr.  George.  — Is  that  resolution  introduced  by  the  Con- 
cord Railroad  ? 

Mr.  Choate.  — I have  no  knowledge.  I don’t  know 
where  it  came  from.  I simply  wanted  to  show  what  the 
feeling  of  New  Hampshire  was  on  this  point.  There  was  a 
resolution  offered  which  struck  at  these  through  contracts.  I 
don’t  know  where  it  came  from.  Now  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  that  part  of  the  question  — 

Mr.  Hoar.  — This  was  a committee  appointed  to  investi- 
gate the  affairs  of  the  Concord  and  Northern  Railroads  ? 

Mr.  Choate. — I don’t  know  what  the  committee  was. 

Mr.  Hoar.  — I have  the  phamphlet  in  my  hand.  The  re- 
port begins  at  the  beginning  of  it.  They  also  wanted  to 
know  what  salary  said  Stark  has  had,  and  other  little  curi- 
ous inquiries. 

Mr.  Choate. — That  is  not  a matter  which  is  material 
here.  It  is  attempted  to  show  that  New  Hampshire  is  hos- 
tile to  a consolidated  line.  Now  this  report,  which  was 


29 


unanimously  adopted,  shows  what  New  Hampshire  thought 
of  a consolidated  line,  by  contract,  whether  they  are  dis- 
posed or  not  to  interfere  with  it.  The  report  is,  "that  the 
Vermont  Central  has  taken  a lease  of  the  Ogdensburg  Road, 
and  that  the  roads  on  this  line  below  White  River  Junction 
have  agreed  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  this  lease  to  the  extent 
Of  the  Ogdensburg  business  oil  their  line,  and  no  further  ; that 
said  contract  was  negotiated  and  executed  with  great  care, 
under  the  legal  advice  and  sanction  of  Judge  Redfield  and 
J udge  Abbott,  of  Boston,  and  Colonel  George,  counsel  for  the 
Lowell  Road ; that  there  was  no  evidence  that  said  contract 
was  contrary  to  right  or  law,  or  to  the  detriment  of  the 
public ; but  on  the  contrary,  the  evidence  was  that  it  was 
legally  entered  into  with  unusual  care  and  for  proper  pur- 
poses.” 

This  report  was  accepted  uanimously.  It  was  the  same 
Legislature  which  kicked  out  this  bill  about  the  great 
Northern  Railroad,  I am  told,  the  very  next  day  after  it 
was  done ; and  I think  this  shows  conclusively  that  the  Leg- 
islature of  New  Hampshire  has  no  hostility  to  proper  con- 
solidation and  for  proper  purposes.  While  they  objected  to 
the  consolidation  asked  for,  they  were  perfectly  willing  to 
pass  a resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  stating 
that  the  contract  of  the  Ogdensburg  Road  with  these  lower 
roads,  by  which  they  substantially  agreed,  as  a body  form- 
ing this  line,  to  take  the  lease  of  the  Ogdensburg  Road  for 
common  benefit,  and  to  contribute  from  their  earnings  from 
the  business  which  came  from  the  Ogdensburg  Road,  was  a 
proper  contract  to  be  made,  was  beneficial  to  the  roads  and 
beneficial  to  the*people. 

Mr.  George. — The  Northern  Road  was  in  favor  of  that 
resolution,  you  say? 

Mr.  Choate.  — I cannot  say,  sir. 


30 


Mr.  George. — I believe  it  was,  sir.  I wrote  that  re- 
port. I believe  that  I was  at  that  time  counsel  for  the 
Northern  Road,  or  supposed  that  I was. 

Mr.  Choate.  — At  the  same  session  of  the  Legislature  an 
act  was  passed  authorizing  the  Boston  & Lowell  Road  to 
lease  the  Wilton  Branch  for  a period  of  ninety-nine  years. 

Mr.  George.  — I think  you  are  mistaken  in  regard  to  that. 
It  simply  sanctioned  the  existing  lease. 

Mr.  Choate. — Now  what  is  the  precise  position  you  are 
asked  to  assume  in  regard  to  New  Hampshire  ? I think  that 
the  matter  thus  far  merely  shows  there  has  been  a railroad 
quarrel  between  the  manager  of  the  Lowell  Railroad  and  the 
Legislature  of  New  Hampshire.  And  you  are  now  asked 
to  come  into  that  quarrel.  You  are  asked,  it  seems  to  me, 
to  punish  New  Hampshire  and  to  snub  New  Hampshire  for 
what  she  has  done.  ' I don’t  know  but  it  may  be  good  judg- 
ment, but  it  seems  to  me  it  is  about  the  same  proposition  as 
it  would  be  to  ask  a merchant  to  kick  his  best  customer  out 
of  the  store  because  he  has  a quarrel  with  the  shop  boy. 
New  Hampshire  is  the  best  customer  of  the  city  of  Boston. 
If  she  has  done  wrong,  it  seems  to  me  the  better  way  would 
be  to  try  to  persuade  her  to  do  right.  I cannot  see  that  she 
has  done  wrong.  The  proposition  as  presented  to  the  New 
Hampshire  Legislature  and  there  rejected,  was  not  a fair 
proposition  to  make.  It  was  not  a fair  proposition  to  make 
to  the  other  railroads  connected  with  this  Northern  line.  To 
present  it  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  put,  to  carry  the  power 
of  the  great  Northern  Railroad  Company,  in  disguise,  under 
such  an  act  as  this  to  any  corporation,  I don’t  think  was 
quite  a fair  thing  to  do.  And  under  the  circumstances  I 
have  stated,  I don’t  think  it  is  any  wonder  that  New  Hamp- 
shire should  have  felt  somewhat  sensitive  on  the  subject. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  refer  to  the  act  which  is  now 


31 


proposed,  the  amended  great  Northern  Railroad  charter.  It 
simply  increases  the  power.  It  makes  a corporation  which, 
if  it  is  to  do  what  is  there  probably  intended  to  be  done, 
would  have  a capital,  in  debt  and  stock,  of  at  least  $100,- 
000,000.  Sixty  millions  was  appropriated  to  buy  up  the 
Northern  line.  It  has  been  testified  'here  that  it  will  take 
$50,000,000  to  have  your  Western  line  by  the  way  of  the 
Tunnel.  And  in  addition  to  all  that,  the  proposition  is  to 
bring  in  the  Cheshire,  Rutland  & Vermont  Valley  Railroads, 
which  I think  have  a combined  capital  of  nearly  $10,000,000 
more. 

Now  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  a means  of  exit  for  the 
Northern  railroads.  It  has  been  intimated  that  the  North- 
ern roads  have  another  means  of  exit,  if  they  are  deprived 
of  the  existing  one  by  the  proposed  combination.  There  is 
the  Manchester  & Lawrence,  which  may  certainly  be  used ; 
but  the  difficulties  in  that  are  twofold.  It  has  very  heavy 
grades.  Out  of  Manchester  they  are  something  like  eighty 
feet  to  a mile ; and  as  a freight  road,  it  is  not  what  is  needed 
for  a through  line.  In  the  second  place,  it  can  have  no 
coadjutor  in  Boston  in  the  Boston  & Maine,  to  the  same  ex- 
tent that  it  would  have  if  the  Boston  & Maine  Road  were  iden- 
tified with  its  interests,  as  has  been  the  case  with  the  Boston 
& Lowell.  The  Boston  & Maine  is  substantially  an  Eastern 
line.  Whatever  comes  to  it  from  the  north  is  merely 
incidental.  To  have  a through  line,  we  want  a road  situated 
as  the  Boston  & Lowell  has  been,  which  shall  be  identified 
in  interest  with  the  Northern  line. 

What  would  be  the  position  of  these  roads  in  case  you 
granted  this  acti  of  consolidation  ? As  I stated  in  my  open- 
ing, it  mainly  makes  every  railroad  which  has  a direction 
towards  Boston,  in  a circuit  of  ninety  degrees,  tributary  to 
this  one  corporation  which  comes  here  and  tells  you  it  will 


32 


have  all  the  depot  facilities  on  the  north  side  of  the  city.  It 
makes  every  outside  corporation  tributary  to  it. 

Now  we  feel  in  this  matter  precisely  as  Mr.  Stearns  of  the 
Fitchburg  Road  says  he  should  feel  if  he  were  representing 
an  outside  company.  And  I beg  leave  to  suggest  to  the 
committee  that  the  Northern  Railroad  here  stands  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  position,  as  a railroad  corporation,  that  the 
Vermont  & Massachusetts  does,  and  as  the  State  of  Mass- 
achusetts does  representing  a railroad  property.  I cannot 
see  that  the  interest  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  in  this 
Troy  & Greenfield  Railroad  and  this  tunnel  is  not  similar  to 
the  interest  of  the  Northern  Railroad.  So  far  as  that  is 
concerned,  you  are  a railroad  corporation ; and  it  would  be 
simple  suicide  in  the  State  to  put  together  the  only  two  cor- 
porations with  which  it  can  make  a connection,  and  then 
come  to  them  to  make  a contract.  You  must  use  the  facili- 
ties of  either  the  Lowell  or  the  Fitchburg ; and  the  idea 
that  before  you  undertake  to  trade  with  them  and  make  a 
contract  with  them,  you  will  put  them  together  and  make  a 
monopoly  of  them,  is,  it  seems  to  me,  ridiculous.  I suppose 
that  the  necessary  effect  of  this  arrangement  upon  the 
Northern  line  (1  cannot  see  any  other  effect)  would  be  to 
establish  a new  line.  They  tell  you  that  if  you  put  the 
Fitchburg  Railroad  premises  and  the  Boston  & Lowell  Rail- 
road premises  together,  there  will  be  a saving  of  so  much 
money.  I think  there  will  be  a saving  of  money  in  that 
way ; but  it  will  be  a saving  to  such  an  extent,  by  the  de- 
struction of  business  interests,  that  it  will  compel,  abso- 
lutely compel,  the  building  of  another  road.  I do  not  see 
that  there  is  any  escape  from  it.  You  plac#  the  railroads 
of  New  Hampshire,  representing  some  five  or  six  hundred 
miles  of  road,  roads  with  a capital  of  fifty  millions,  with- 
out a terminus,  if  you  carry  the  Lowell  Road  over  and 


33 


make  it  the  terminus  substantially  of  the  Tunnel  line. 
They  cannot  depend  upon  the  station  accommodations  to  be 
given  them  by  a rival  line.  The  only  result  will  be,  that 
you  compel  them  to  build  a new  road  and  get  such  depot 
accommodations  in  the  city  of  Boston  as  they  can. 

You  place  them  in  very  nearly  the  same  position  in  which 
the  Boston  & Maine  was  placed  when  its  terminus  of  40 
miles  went  into  the  hands  of  a rival  corporation,  and  the 
result  will  be  the  same.  The  Boston  & Maine  Railroad  was 
compelled  to  build  a new  road  to  get  to  Portland.  I think  the 
result  in  regard  to  the  Northern  roads  would  be  the  same ; 
you  would  compel  them  to  expend  more  money  in  getting 
additional  depot  facilities,  and  in  building  a new  line  from 
the  present  terminus  of  the  Concord  Road  into  Boston. 

Mr.  Derby.  — What  are  the  gradients  of  the  Manchester 
& Lawrence  Railroad  from  Manchester  to  Lawrence  and 
Boston,  coming  down  from  the  west? 

Mr.  Choate, —They  are  very  heavy;  they  are  over  80 
feet  coming  from  Manchester  towards  Boston  as  you  come 
out  of  Manchester. 

Col.  George.  — The  profile  grade  out  of  Manchester  is  68 
feet,  and  the  actual  grade  is  about  70. 

Mr.  Derby.  — Is  that  going  east  or  west  ? My  inquiry  is 
from  Manchester  to  Boston. 

Col.  George.  — That  is  from  Manchester  towards  Boston. 
As  you  come  out  of  Manchester,  towards  Boston,  the  pro- 
file grade  is  68  feet,  and  the  actual  grade  is  about  70.  As 
you  go  the  other  way  they  are  a little  lighter. 

Mr.  Choate.  — The  best  information  I can  give  is  to  read 
from  the  argument  of  Col.  George  before  the  committee  in 
1869,  in  which  he  says,  that  while  a single  engine  over  the 
Boston  & Lowell  Railroad  will  take  from  50  to  100  cars,  a 


34 


single  engine  can  haul  only  16  on  the  grades  of  the  Man- 
chester & Lawrence  Railroad. 

Col.  George.  — That  is  undoubtedly  so.  I am  glad  to 
hear  you  read  from  my  arguments.  They  are  very  carefully 
prepared  and  very  accurate,  and  I do  not  go  back  on  them. 
I think  I can  tell,  when  I represent  a man,  whether  he  is  one 
way  of  thinking  or  another. 

Mr.  Choate.  — The  practical  result,  as  we  look  upon  it,  of 
putting  those  two  roads  together,  the  Fitchburg  and  the 
Lowell  Roads, — for  you  will  observe  that  the  form  of  the  bill 
presented  simply  grants  them  the  power  to  unite  ; it  does 
not  require  the  formation  of  any  through  line  whatever ; it 
is  simple  a grant  of  power  to  unite,  — in  its  effect  upon  the 
outside  roads  is  just  to  place  them  between  an  upper  and 
nether  millstone,  between  the  blades  of  a pair  of  shears,  giv- 
ing the  power  to  a great  monopoly  controlling  all  the  term- 
inal facilities,  — I will  not  say  to  crush,  because  I think  they 
have  too  much  vitality  to  be  crushed ; but  take  a road  situ- 
ated in  that  way,  it  gives  a enormous  power  to  get  control  of 
and  buy  them  up  cheaply.  For  instance,  take  the  whole 
Northern  line.  If  the  same  corporation  owns  the  terminus 
of  the  Fitchburg  Road,  the  key  to  the  Tunnel  Road,  and  the 
Lowell  Road,  the  key  to  the  Northern  Road,  they  can  turn 
all  the  business  first  by  one  way  until  they  break  down  the 
roads  on  one  line  and  buy  them  up,  and  then  turn  all  the  busi- 
ness over  that  line  and  break  down  the  other  line  and  buy 
them  up.  I don’t  wonder  that  the  Lowell  Railroad  managers 
fora  prospect  like  that  are  willing  to  go  into  an  arrangement  by 
which  they  give  up  the  Northern  line.  Their  business  is  not 
to  provide  accommodation,  but  to  make  money  ; and  I think 
it  does  furnish  a good  opportunity  to  make  money.  I think 
it  is  a valuable  charter  to  grant.  I think  .the  prospect  is 
that  any  one  corporation  which  is  placed  in  control  of  those 


35 


two  terminal  routes  from  Boston  to  Nashua  and  Boston  to 
Fitchburg,  and  all  the  terminal  facilities,  as  they  claim,  and 
certainly  all  the  most  valuable  terminal  facilities  on  that  side 
of  the  city,  will  have  enormous  power  over  the  outside 
roads.  That  is  one  reason  why  we  object ; that  is  one 
reason  why  we  think  the  State  has  an  interest  to  object  to 
it;  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  as  I have  said,  is  in  the 
same  situation  as  an  outside  road,  as  the  Northern  Railroad. 

Mr.  Hoar.  — Would  it  interrupt  you  to  ask  whether  you 
will  state  to  the  committee  whether  your  Northern  Road  does 
or  does  not  own  a road  precisely  situated  in  the  same  way ; 
whether  you  do  not  own  the  Claremont  Road  and  have  the 
control  of  the  road  from  Windsor  down  to  Bellows  Falls? 

Mr.  Choate. — The  Claremont  Road  is  one  which  is  of 
comparatively  little  importance.  It  is  a local  road  running 
across  the  State.  It  is  shown  there  directly  south  of  the 
Northern. 

Mr.  Hoar.  — It  would  be  another  road  for  all  the  North- 
ern travel  from  Wells  river  to  Boston,  if  you  didn’t  own  it? 

Mr.  Choate.  — No. 

Mr.  George.  — Does  not  the  Northern  own  the  Claremont 
Road,  which  has  no  connection  with  the  Northern  Road? 

Mr.  Choate.  — They  own  substantially  the  whole  line.  It 
is  two  corporations. 

[Col.  George  pointed  out  on  the  map  the  line  of  the 
Northern  Road,  and  the  road  from  Windsor  to  Bellows  Falls, 
and  said  :] 

The  Northern  Road  owns  that  line  that  does  not  come 
within  fourteen  miles  of  it  at  any  point.  I want  the  commit- 
tee to  understand  how  it  differs. 

Mr.  Choate.  — It  is  a difference  in  decree.  To  take  the 

© 

Lowell  Railroad  from  the  Northern  line  is  about  the  same 


36 


thing  as  it  would  be  to  take  the  Tunnel  from  the  Tunnel 
line  and  put  it  into  the  hands  of  a rival  corporation. 

Col.  George. — Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  explain  the 
reason  of  the  Northern  buying  the  Sullivan  Road  outside  of 
its  line,  and  fourteen  miles  distant  from  any  part  of  it? 

Mr.  Choate. — Not  so  much  to  accommodate  the  public 
as  to  make  money. 

Col.  George. — That  is  the  ground  on  which  you  appear 
here  ? 

Mr.  Choate.  — That  is  the  reason  of  the  Fitchburg  & 
Lowell  Roads  trying  to  consolidate.  I appear  to  represent 
a corporation,  and  I think  the  interests  of  the  corporation 
are  in  certain  respects  identical  with  the  interests  of  the 
public  and  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  If  we  have  had 
some  experience  in  buying  up  competing  roads,  it  cannot  do 
any  harm  to  tell  what  that  experience  has  been. 

Col.  George. — Whether  last  year  the  Northern  Road 
did  not  buy  up  the  Concord  Road,  and  to-day  in  connection 
with  the  Montreal  Road  own  a controlling  interest  in  it  ? 

Mr.  Choate. — There  was  stock  in  the  Concord  Road 
which  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  what  my  friend  here 
calls  speculators.  They  had  a controlling  interest,  and  the 
Lowell  tried  to  buy  it,  but  they  did  not  succeed.  On  the 
contrary,  if  they  were  speculators  they  had  the  interest,  or 
what  they  thought  was  the  true  interest  of  New  Hampshire 
at  heart.  They  preferred  that  the  control  of  the  Concord 
Road  should  be  where  it  belonged,  in  New  Hampshire  ; that 
it  should  not  be  used  as  a stopper  to  a bottle,  to  bottle  up 
the  business  of  New  Hampshire.  The  stock  has  now  passed 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  " speculators,”  and  I suppose  to-day 
is  under  the  control  of  the  Concord  & Montreal  Road  and 
the  Northern  Road.  Whether  that  gives  them  the  control 


37 


of  the  Concord  Road,  I am  not  able  to  say.  It  is  a com- 
paratively small  portion  of  the  stock  in  that  road. 

[Col.  George  pointed  oat  on  the  map  the  position  of  the 
Concord,  Northern  & Montreal  Roads,  and  said  : ] 

Last  season  the  Northern  & Montreal  Roads  in  combina- 
tion purchased  a controlling  interest  in  the  road  from  Concord 
to  Nashua,  for  the  purpose,  as  I understand,  of  protecting 
New  Hampshire  interests.  If  there  is  any  conflict  between 
the  interests  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  I would 
like  to  know  it.  I suppose  Mr.  Choate  will  not  deny  the 
fact.  I suppose  the  fact  is  palpable  that  the  Northern  bought 
the  Sullivan  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  both  lines  and 
throwing  the  business  over  the  Northern  Road. 

Mr.  Choate. — The  Sullivan  Road  is  controlled  by  the 
Northern  Road  but  it  is  leased  to  the  Vt.  Central  for  the 
same  period  of  time  as  the  line  contract  lasts.  This  through 
line  contract  provides  that  the  Vt.  Central  shall  have  abso- 
lute control  of  the  Sullivan  Road,  and  it  has  it. 

Col.  George  — That  contract  provides  that  the  whole 
business  shall  be  thrown  down  over  the  Northern  and  not 
over  the  Sullivan. 

Mr.  Choate.  — I have  already  taken  more  time  than  I in- 
tended. I am  reminded  that  the  contract  which  Col.  George 
says  provides  that  the  business  shall  all  go  over  the  Northern 
provides  it  shall  be  divided  in  the  same  way  between  the  two 
lines  in  which  it  had  been  done  in  previous  years,  before  the 
contract  was  made.  One  word  in  regard  to  the  use  of  de- 
pots. The  question  perhaps  might  arise,  why  the  Northern 
line  cannot  use  the  depots  of  the  Lowell  Road  if  this  consol- 
idation takes  place.  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  anything  further 
to  what  has  been  said  here  by  Mr.  Stearns  of  the  Fitchburg 
Road.  You  might  perhaps  frame  a law  by  which  you  should 
give  the  different  lines  an  absolute  ownership  — joint  owner- 


38 


ship  — • in  the  stations ; but  I think  it  would  lead  to  an  in- 
finitude of  troubles.  I believe  there  is  no  way,  with  any- 
thing short  of  a joint  ownership,  that  a railroad  corpora- 
tion can  safely  and  for  its  own  interest  transact  its  business 
in  the  station  accommodations  of  a road  which  is  distinctly 
competing  and  rival.  If  the  Lowell  Road  and  the  Fitchburg 
are  combined,  you  will  make  one  of  two  things ; either  the 
Fitchburg  becomes  part  of  the  Northern,  or  the  Lowell  be- 
comes part  of  the  Fitchburg  and  Tunnel  line ; and  it  seems 
to  us  the  probability  is,  that  the  Lowell  will  become  a part 
of  the  Tunnel  line,  and  we  shall  have  to  make  our  accommo- 
dations in  the  Lowell  station  with  a competing  road,  with  a 
road  that  has  distinct  and  rival  interests,  and  that  the  inevi- 
table result  must  be  to  break  up  the  line.  It  cannot  be  oth- 
erwise. I do  not  think  the  interests  of  New  Hampshire  and 
Boston  are  diverse  in  this  thing.  I believe  the  interests  of 
Boston  require  you  to  keep  up  as  many  distinct,  absolute, 
competing  lines  as  you  can  have.  You  can  have  four ; the 
Northern,  the  Tunnel,  the  Boston  & Albany  and  the  Boston, 
Hartford  & Erie  ; and  we  submit  that  it  is  not  wise  to  take  any 
steps  which  have  a tendency  to  break  down  an  existing  line 
which  by  all  the  testimony  in  the  case  has  been  in  the  past 
and  is  likely  to  be  in  the  future  an  efficient  line. 


( 


